Its A Small World
by LittleMissMaryLiz
Summary: In an attempt to take her mind off of her neglectful father, Chloe Saunders rides the subway as a distraction and as a coping method. While on board, Chloe meets an infuriating woman with black hair and green eyes who just so happens to know a little more about the other passenger on the train than Chloe could ever imagine.


**So, one-shot unlike the other two stories I have posted. I hope you won't find it too vexing. As I am sure most of you have concluded from the story's description and title, yes, the green-eyed girl is Derek's sister. They won't meet- Derek isn't even in this story (and they're half siblings, kind of made obvious by the fact she's old enough to be a cop, so different last names). This isn't fluff it is just something I thought would be fun to write. As I say in every author's note, I want to hear your feedback- it doesn't matter if you liked it or not, I want to hear what you have to say.**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. All rights to Kelley Armstrong.**

There is so much beauty in some of the most unexpected places. Chloe was well aware of this. She waited on a bench for her train, a guitarist strumming beautiful notes on an old acoustic guitar. The notes hung in the air and Chloe closed her eyes and tilted her head back, reveling in the melody. It was a wonderful distraction. When she had writer's block or was upset about something, the subway was always a good place to go; so many noises, always a new person she's never met. Sure, she could have her driver Milos take her places, or take a cab like any other normal New Yorker, but that was mediocre and did little to occupy her thoughts.

The guitarist's song ended and he started packing away his instrument as Chloe's train rolled in. She dug in her jacket pocket and handed the man a twenty with a smile. She figured he would need it more than her if playing the guitar on the subway was his full time job. His tired, worn skin stretched into a smiled as she walked through the train doors.

There weren't many people on the car besides her. There was only one, in fact; a tall, lanky, blonde haired man with a duffle bag and glasses. He didn't look up at Chloe as she walked in, but obviously knew she was there and pushed his bag farther under his seat with his foot. Just another casual, paranoid New Yorker, nothing out of the ordinary. But when Chloe looked at him, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was. It wasn't him that bothered her, she knew, but she couldn't figure out what did. He looked like a relatively normal man but something was on the train that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

So now, Chloe was taking on the roll of the casual paranoid New Yorker.

She rubbed the goose bumps that appeared on her arms and took a seat farther down the aisle. The train lurched forward and the lights of the station faded away. Chloe sighed and unzipped her jacket, pulling out a blue postcard. It read:

_"Dear Chloe, I am sorry I couldn't be with you today, but I do wish you the best. I love you. Happy Birthday. Love Dad."_

She had read the postcard over and over multiple times in her room, and though this behavior wasn't unusual for her father, it still stung. He was away on a business trip- again. Normally when Chloe's birthday came she could at least hope in the days coming that her father would surprise her by showing up at her doorstep. He never did but she always hoped. His postcard, however, had come a week early, and now she saw no point in chasing such daydreams.

Chloe put the postcard back, rubbing her shoulders absently. It wasn't cold on the subway, but she found that she was shaking. Her gaze slipped back to the man and his bag and she watched him from the corner of her eye. The man was now looking at her with an obvious interest, resting his head on his hand and peering at her with an unblinking gaze.

The train rolled to a stop, so unexpected that Chloe jumped. The doors slid open and Chloe pleaded with whatever unknown force was watching her that the man would leave. He stayed rooted to his chair, never once taking his eyes off of her.

A feeling of dread settled over Chloe as the doors started to close. She wondered why she hadn't left when she had the chance, and found herself staring at the doors as a body slipped between the almost closed gap. A woman slipped through, tugging her hood off her head and looking around the train, intense green eyes analyzing the train car as if she were looking for something. She slipped off her jacket and Chloe could see the toned muscles in her arms, the rest of her curly black hair flowing down her back- she had to have been at least six feet tall. Chloe ducked her gaze and tried to sink further back into her chair.

This woman Chloe had never seen before, and neither had the man, but she had certainly seen him. This woman, unbeknownst to the two other passengers, worked for NYPD and had been following the man around Buffalo the entire morning. When a warrant was ready and transferred, she had gone to BPD to retrieve it and arrest the bastard when he was on the train. As she entered the train, however, she was stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn't the fact Chloe was there, meaning there would be a witness. She didn't mind them, it gave her a chance to show off and them a good story to tell. What stopped her was the smell. It was faint but something she and her supernatural race alone could pick up at this early stage. The smell emanated from her target, a suspected serial killer NYPD had been bending over backwards for to try and keep quiet. His bag sat under his chair, and from there, she smelled the putrid odor that reeked at every deadly crime scene she investigated.

_Yeah, there is definitely part of a body in that bag, _she thought.

The woman followed her target's gaze across the train where she spotted a girl sitting uncomfortably in her chair, rubbing her arms and refusing to look in her direction. She should've gotten off the train. The woman considered everything for a moment. Her target was dangerous, and he himself had found his own target, this little blonde who didn't look old enough to be riding the subway on her own, especially at night. She looked at the girl and couldn't quite place a finger on her age, but decided she looked a little too young to witness an officer arresting a serial killer with a bag of female body parts. The woman's partner, June, had a team waiting at a station a few stops down to assist with the arrest, so she decided they could handle it if she wasn't there. Right now, she needed to get the blonde off the train.

She walked past the man and sat down by the girl, leaning forward and blocking the man's view of her.

"Do you have the time?" she asked.

The blonde girl turned towards her, keeping her gaze low. "N-n-no m-ma'am," she stammered.

The woman groaned internally. She was almost positive this girl was no older than eleven and certain the man had heard her stutter and was now hell bent on making the shy adolescent with a speech impediment his next victim.

As she was talking, the lights flickered in the train car and the train, still in the station, became deathly still. A red light glowed throughout the car and the doors reopened. The intercom sounded, a muffled saying there was going to be a minor delay.

"That's alright," the woman said, sarcasm laced in her words. "I don't have anywhere important to be anyway." She leaned back in her seat and got herself comfortable. "What is your name?" She asked the girl.

"C-Chloe."

She mentally groaned again at the sickly sweet, innocent name. She nodded and leaned closer, lowering her voice. "M'kay then, Chloe, I'm going to need you to come with me."

Chloe's eyes widened and she backed herself closer to the wall. "W-w-w-"

"How about I do all the talking and you can just follow me like I told you to."

Chloe shook her head.

"Oh dear. We're going to have to do this the hard way, aren't we?" Now she was just having fun. She contemplated showing Chloe her badge but decided against it. She didn't want to risk tipping off her target if Chloe started asking why a cop wanted her off the train. She had no doubt that, since her target's duffle bag had disembodied limbs, he had some kind of knife or dagger on him (something he surely wouldn't mind using on a cop and an eleven year old). Instead, with her side to the wall, she lifted up her shirt far enough to reveal her gun, nonchalantly keeping one hand on her hip to hide her badge. Chloe sucked in a sharp breath and the woman held her hand up.

"No questions please. I won't answer them and I don't want to have to hear that stutter again, okay?"

Chloe nodded and the woman stood, shrugging on her jacket. She looked back at her target and saw that he had turned away from them and was fiddling with his glasses. She pulled out her phone and texted June, telling her she was compromised but safe and said the target was still aboard the stalled train. She held out her hand for Chloe who took it, her body shaky and pallor as she helped herself up. Chloe figured that the best thing for her to do was get off the train with the girl and find some way to alert a security guard that she was armed. When they stepped off the train, however, the station was devoid of people. It was as if she had walked into a ghost town.

_Okay then, plan B._

Chloe broke out into a run, the only thought running through her mind was that she had to get away from the woman. Said woman, still standing in the doorway of the train, watched with an amused expression. She counted to five and then tore off after Chloe, catching up in a matter of seconds. She grabbed Chloe's jacket as she was fleeing up the stairs and as gently as she could pushed her to the wall. The woman's target was still on train, out of earshot, so she had no problem showing her badge now.

She brought it up for Chloe to see. "Officer Penelope Sohail, don't freak out I was never going to shoot you."

Chloe stared at the badge dumbly, fiddling with a chain around her neck for security. "Y-y-y-" she started.

Penelope gave an exasperated sigh. "Why don't you stop and try that again."

Chloe went from white as a ghost to red as a tomato, her eyes downcast. "Y-you're a c-c," she was having trouble getting the last word out so Penelope finished for her.

"A cop? Yes, I believe I mentioned that already."

Chloe nodded and kept her eyes down on her pendant.

"I work for NYPD."

"T-t-then why a-are y-you here?"

"We are currently working an investigation and our suspect fled his home- will you stop that?!" She snapped. Penelope grabbed Chloe's hand, catching her glittering red pendant between her fingers. "What the hell-" she paused, eyeing the necklace in somewhat of a shocked stupor. She looked at Chloe, who had gone white again, then fiddled with the stone. She had seen stones like that before- she had friends who were necromancers that had them imbedded in their class rings. It was supposed to keep ghosts (to a certain degree) at bay by disguising a necromancer's glow. Mainly the ghosts of telekinetic half demons that can touch things (and people). The stone was supposed to change color based on how strong a necromancer's glow was- and even some of her friends weren't powerful enough to require a red stone. She let the pendant drop and watched Chloe with apparent fascination. She knew a necromancer would have known if he or she was on a train with a dead body and she was now even more confused as to why Chloe stayed on the train with one.

She sighed. "We should get you home." Penelope turned and walked up the stairs, mumbling to herself in a hushed voice. "What the hell kind of necromancer are you?"

She talked louder as she walked. Just an attempt at small talk as Chloe followed, her footsteps small and timid. She didn't want to follow, but it was obvious she didn't have a choice.

Penelope had parked her car across the street at a pizzeria before boarding the subway, and was quite glad the train had broken down before it left the station. At least now she had her car. Penelope was standing at a crosswalk when Chloe had finally caught up. She figured she should have been trying to push her along faster, so to motivate her, she stopped right in the middle of the crosswalk. Chloe started stuttering and Penelope didn't even bother trying to decipher her words. She watched as the neon lights of the timer counted down, and when they reached five, she sprinted across the street. Chloe, who had caught on now, was running behind her as the clock hit zero. Even when Penelope reached the sidewalk she kept up a jog, cutting through the parking lot and getting into her car. Chloe stopped a few feet away from Penelope's Camry, contemplating what would happen if tried to she make a break for it again.

Chloe had seen the badge and believed that this woman was who she said she was, but that didn't mean it would be smart to get into a car with her.

Penelope, seeing Chloe's hesitation, opened the door with a scowl on her face. (An expression she only used when she was very, _very _annoyed. It was an expression even June was wary of.)

"Are you coming or what?" She snapped.

"Y-you never answered m-my question," she said, trying to sound confident, when in reality she was just stalling.

Penelope raised a thin eyebrow. "Pardon me?"

"I-if y-you're-"

"Take a deep breath, you were getting better."

Chloe wondered if there was genuine sincerity in her voice, but upon seeing her deep set scowl, dismissed the idea. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I-if you're from N-NYPD, why are y-you in Buffalo?"

"I think I did."

Chloe gave her a look.

"We are working a case and our target fled his home."

Chloe nodded, even though that was the same answer she got at the station. She figured that was as good as it was going to get and nodded as an awful realization hit her. That man on the subway. It had to have been him, there was no sense in a cop using the subway to get around when she had a car. And if she came all the way from New York City to apprehend him...

Penelope sensed Chloe's discomfort, and seeing as she had scared the poor girl enough for one night, continued hurriedly, "He was supposed to board the train at the next stop and I was going to arrest him before he could." It was a small lie, but she figured since she would never see this girl again, there was no need for truthfulness. "Will you come on now?"

Chloe considered her options and decided that getting into a car with a cop would be better than walking the streets of New York alone at night. She got into the car and was met with a blast of hot air, a nice change from the chilly breeze of the night. Penelope started the car and asked Chloe where she lived. She typed the address Chloe gave her into a GPS and muted it. Chloe gave her a look.

"The voice annoys me," she stated simply. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove in the direction of Chloe's house.

Chloe felt the uncomfortable silence suffocate her, and searched for something to say. "D-do people call you Penny?"

Penelope quirked her lips. "No, people call me Penelope. That is, after all, my_ name_."

Chloe felt a blush coming on and turned her head away. She nodded and let the silence engulf her with a warm welcome.

But Penelope wasn't having it. "You shouldn't be riding the subway on your own. You need a parent or someone with you. You're about how old, eleven?" She eyed Chloe. "Yeah, that seems about right."

Chloe looked at herself in one of the rearview mirrors. She didn't look like the age she actually was- she was short enough to be a seventh grader and had long, straight hair that made her look like a little girl. She was turning fifteen and still was underdeveloped in the chest region, and had next to no curves.

She blushed in humiliation and stammered, "I-I a-am f-f-fifteen."

Penelope stared at her incredulously. "Fifteen? Really?"

"I-In another w-week."

She waited for an apology, but Penelope only shrugged and said, "So you're still technically fourteen then." She hummed and went on, talking about how a hair cut and make up would make all the difference, blah, blah, blah.

Chloe fumed at the infuriating woman. "T-this is where you are s-supposed to a-apologize," she said.

Penelope bit the inside of her cheek, her brows shooting up. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and answered with an even, matter-of-factly tone. "So, what? Its my fault genetics screwed you over?"

Chloe's jaw dropped and she quickly closed it when she saw Penelope's triumphant smirk. She fumed in her seat, watching as Penelope chuckled at her own joke. She would have felt a little better if her laugh had been more of a cackle, and if she wasn't Victoria's Secret Angel material. Chloe took a deep breath, gathering her wits and whatever courage she had left. "Y-you're a real b-b-b word, you know that?"

Penelope coasted into the parking lot of a tall building and paused as she was turning the car key. She burst into laughter, resting her head on the steering wheel and shaking vigorously. Chloe thought it was because she couldn't even bring herself to say the word and was about to get out of the car without so much as thanking the officer when Penelope turned and smiled at her, her eyes alight with mirth.

"You have no idea," she chortled.

Chloe got out of the car- and did thank Officer Sohail- before walking up the stairs of her apartment building. Penelope let her laughter die down and took in where she was. She was parked in the shadow of a tall luxury building, complete with a doorman and valet. The building was under construction but it was impressive enough she didn't think it was needed. And Chloe _lived_ here.

_I wonder if it is too late to take back everything I just said._

Penelope laughed again, starting her car and checking behind her in her rearview mirror. The building was in a more bustling part of Buffalo, with strip malls and restaurants on either side. Across from the building, however, was a small park with a smaller pond and a multitude of trees. Between the trees, Penelope saw a flash of blonde and dismissed it as a jogger until a figure came into view. The tall silhouette of a man leaned against a tree, wire-rimmed glasses reflecting the moonlight as he gazed up at the luxury building.

Penelope cut the engine once more as her phone rang.

"Hey," she said.

The high, scratchy voice belonging to her partner sounded on the other end. "The train came in but he isn't here."

"I kind of figured," she said distractedly, feeling around in her jacket pockets until she found the warrant.

June raised her voice to a dangerous degree. "I swear to God Sohail-"

"I can see him," she said. "In a park on Honey Avenue. He was targeting a teenager on the subway. I took her home and she's safe, best not to worry her about it."

June grunted. "You're not going to let him get away again, are you."

Penelope stiffened indignantly. June was right, it had been her fault he had gotten away in the first place- she was all too trusting, giving people the benefit of the doubt. She had never interrogated the man, but she had signed the paper work authorizing him to go back to his house (supervised) when her team wouldn't even listen to the man. He had claimed he had incriminating evidence there. It was her fault and June had a knife wound in her side to prove it. Penelope got out of her car and headed towards the street.

"Of course not," she muttered dryly. "I'm going to shoot him."

**What do you guys think?**


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